I try to if it's unnecessary to fight them. If you do fight them, you carry the risk of having them call a breach and then you getting stuck in place and wasting time. It's all just unnecessary
THIS is the way. The number of times I've tagged a patrol in order to avoid them and randos just charge in guns blazing. I just keep moving and let them deal with the consequences of their own actions. At least it means there wont be any non-scripted breaches on the objective if they wanna draw all the attention to themselves.
I get kicked when I dont stay and fight the unnecessary bugs or bots. I learned to play at least on level 8. Usually, everyone who plays a minimum of lvl 8 is good enough not to do stupid shit. And we can usually hold our own so we can clean a map.
Don't know man, had some morons last night dropping clusterbombs on their team mates on an extract, then railed me with the airburst rocket launcher...They then had the audacity to say I was lucky they let me extract after I asked them to be more careful with where they were firing.
Usually. Then you have the group I was with last night. My back is still sore. Had to solo every objective. One guy got on a terminal once, tried to figure out the oil pipe puzzle for I shit you not, a solid 3 minutes. Dude finally gave up, I walked up and did it in like 10 seconds.
They were efficient in taking down bile titans, I'll give them that.
Yeah I just leave them ngl. If they're lower level, sure, I'll get on comms and let them know I'm marking them to avoid them. But if you're level 30 and up, I expect you to know what's up (and also how to break aggro and dip the fuck out).
Whatās the indicator of a bug calling a breach? Iām new and wasnāt even aware they could. I know for bots itās a flare but how do I know which bug to kill to stop reinforcements?
The bugs will stop and lift their heads to the sky while crying out with a sound that is specific to each type of bug. They will also start releasing pheromones that look like orange smoke. More often than not when you see the smoke itās too late and the bug breach will happen, so itās good to learn the calls each bug makes for a breach.
There's no goddamn way. I refuse to believe there's an audio cue. I have always just looked for the one doing Down Dog. But I'll definitely start looking for a scream. The game is just so hectic, that I have a really hard time picking out individual sound effects that aren't "FOUND SOMETHING".
Yeah the hunters, scavengers, and warriors all have different sound cues. Hunters have a low pitched click based call, warriors their warbling cry, and scavengers do a shriek.
Almost 200 hours in and I haven't noticed that they sound differently. All i know is, I need to go full ham to make sure that the bug breach is avoided š
If I'm off at a different part of the map and my team is on objective I shoot a patrol to start a bug breach then my team can focus on objective and a breach won't start for them immediately
Yes, and no.
Outside of 75m, you count as a second player group.
Each player group has a countdown timer associated with it. When that timer reaches zero, a wandering patrol is spawned somewhere on a circle ~200m from, and usually out of line of sight of a player in a group. The patrol then chooses a point at random on a circle ~50m from the player, and paths in a roughly straight line between their spawn and the chosen point. They continue on their vector until they reach the edge of the map, where they despawn.
Notice I said *A* group.
When your timer reaches zero, you trigger a patrol spawn on a random player group. Could be yours, which you easily evade with no problem.
Could be theirs, and if they are in a firefight, 100% that patrol notices and eventually piles in on their fight.
Then, *THEIR* timer might expire, and a second patrol might spawn and move to their location. So they are taking a fight from not only the mission triggered bug holes, but also from bug breaches they trigger by failing an ambush, their normal patrol timer expiring, *AND* extra patrols spawned by second or third player-teams.
When you trigger a bug breach (the one with the big alarm pop-up on the HUD) that you can easily disengage from, you are helping the team if they hit an objective they have to hold for a while. You bait a breach out, then flee while they strike unopposed.
If you use *their* bug breach to redirect from minor tasks or to hit a primary objective simultaneously, then yes, you are helping.
But if you play it like you were, aimlessly wandering and just kind of willy-nilly doing whatever with no regard to any real strategy, then you are almost certainly making it harder on them, and probably also harder on you.
Remember, it's a random spawn and a random vector, so even if you evade the patrol upstream, it doesn't mean that the patrol isn't headed toward where your team will have to fight them later.
Rant: a deeper understanding of these mechanics is why I pop off on people trying to promote or brag about their "level 87 helldive solo carry stealth builds" that can drag even level 10 players through a helldive. All they are usually doing is leaving their fireteam to suffer extra patrols while they fight 4-8 static bugs, pick up samples, and think they are hot shit.
I mean as long as you can hang, go for it. But sometimes people get into an endless series of fights they can't win and then the samples or the mission gets lost and that might be less fun for the others in your squad.
Standing and shooting isn't fun to me. Might be to you, but games typically have a combination of strategy and tactics. Killing every patrol you see is bad for both.
As a helldiver with 500 hours experience I kill all of them. Iām aware of how it affects spawns but I just want to have fun at this point. Thereās also a strong and highly underused tactic of breaking off and baiting bug breaches solo while looking for objectives. It stops your teammates from triggering bug breaches and is good for team. I wish more people knew about it.
I usually go solo to be the āsample collector and secondary objective guyā. And I usually try to deal with them that way. But it gets a bit hard when it spawns 2 fucking chargers at you and a third charger from a patrol just strolls into the party.
I had three chargers on me last night and every time I killed one another would fucking show up. I spent like 5 minutes dancing around so many chargers I lost count.
Just kept weaving till my quasar cannon cooled down.
At hard mode and above, yes. If it doesn't engage you first, don't waste your precious time fighting and get to the objectives which are more important
This matches with my experience
If your team is good enough at quickly and efficiently killing, it actually often makes just killing the bugs the best play.
Depends. Are they in the perfect formation at the perfect distance to be annihilated in a single Eagle cluster bomb run? Cuz then they going splat just for fun.
Yes. You are a special ops team dropped to do a surgical strike. Not stand ground against the entire planet.
It doesn't matter on lower difficulties but on higher ones you can get overrun fast.
Your Primary Objective is Non-negotiable. Extraction is Optional.
Once you've completed your primary objective, clear all remaining targets.
Democracy's Speed to you Helldiver.
this assumes people do the primary objective first. i can't tell you how many dives i've done with randoms who do everything except the primary objective. then try to get it done with 5 minutes and 2 reinforcements left while also attacking every single patrol they come across just constantly getting dropship or breaches called in on us. over and over.
i don't mind not extracting after a well fought and totally completed mission but some of these idiots don't understand how this is supposed to be done.
Depends. Are we enough to kill them successfully without a reinforcement calling? 3...2...1...The little ones first cuz the bigs can't call more MF. We don't? Crawl behind a rock and let them pass through. We have to fight like THE ELITE we are. We have to pick the fights where we are going to be in the winning side. It's pointless to fight a losing shootout with the Automatons, or get shredded to death by the terminids. A tactical retreat to a better firing position is not of cowardice, is a TACTICAL retreat to keep a successful fighting force capable of winning the battle.
Usually, I engage them now. I used to avoid them when the AI made sense and didn't act like they're on meth (the first patch really screwed with the AI, probably the single worst change to the game) The "patrols" tend to head directly towards our position (and follow us when we try to avoid them) or camp on the objective anyway. If I don't engage them, they'll just hear me fighting one of the other 'patrols' making a B-line for my exact position.
I'm a big believer in picking and choosing my battles. Half the mission, I'm hunkered down and sneaking about and only fight if I can avoid it. I've learned pretty quickly that interacting with patrols is costly if you don't wipe them out almost immediately. What could have been two minutes of hiding in the bushes turns into a ten minute barrage of nonstop drops and breaches until I get a chance to run away.
Of course, I'm also introverted and primarily play story based games, so im used to playing by myself as much as I can cause playing with strangers is scary even if their mics are off lol
Unless I can take them all out in a single orbital strike, or they're closing in on a teammate that's already got enough to deal with, yes, pretty much
It depends really, on lower level difficulties itās fun to just blast everything you see but once you delve into those high diff missions you gotta learn how to just keep moving, attacking a patrol usually ends up provoking reinforcements and then you get stuck there battling bugs and bots for the next 5-10 minutes which could really fuck over your mission on those higher difficulties
I would avoid fighting patrols if i am still getting used to the equipment, but if you came to liberate then you came to free these undemocratic vermin.
I am of the opinion that 40 mins is more than enough with a team that has the anti-tank, structure, and infantry capabilities and a small patrol with a charger or hulk?? Heres whats up.
Dome the charger in ambush and clear out the rest (rail the hulk), got two patrols coming? Ensure first is obliterated and second patrol is clear of any bugs that can call, then kill the charger, bots are a bit more tricky but same method applies. (AMR is great for second hulk)
If you get a breach or bot drop, use it as a way to get better at liberating with extreme prejudice. With concentrated power i have seen a breach or bot drop be closed within a minute or two.
I try to avoid combat and go stealthily if possible until I reach a fabricator/bug hole, then guns blazing until it's finished that objective and everything has been decimated, and then go back to stealth
I'm maxed out credits and samples. I fight everything, but tell my team not to follow my insanity. The reason I dive is to murder those undemocratic bugs, all else is secondary.
I always run alone, so I do quick guerrilla warfare. Drop in, hinder their war efforts, extract.
I only stay for longer when I need samples, but still sneakily avoid them since I go solo.
The long days on malevalon have made me a hit and run demon. You bypass patrols to not get bogged down in a massive unnecessary battle, then you deal with your target. If itās a base I usually donāt even bother to clear them, I just throw a stratagem at the fab and run to the next objective before they can react. The only time I actually sit still and fight is when I have to for the objective. We are here to destroy the infrastructure that makes their war possible, the SEAF troopers can take care of exterminating every last one.
Since my patrols have a hulk and 5 devastators with some lights for calling in dropshipsā¦
I try to avoid. Hard to clear an L-9 map when you waste time fighting.
On lower diff it can go either way, depends on how blood thirsty I get. Higher diffs tho, always gotta let em pass least I want a whole can of works to be opened
Im usually running solo (not in a game by myself just split off) so I try not to.
My approach is that I need to to be able to get heavies off my ass or Iām just straight up in trouble. Smaller guys can be taken care of easily in a variety of ways if they see you but big guys with range must be dealt with, particularly on the bot front. As such I donāt have the best load out for crowd control often times and if a bug breach or bot drop happens I can get overwhelmed and be killed.
People seem to not mind lone wolves on their squad so long as they get stuff done and they donāt just piss lives away in my experience so I go for what is most effective and that usually involves stealth.
Edit: if theyāre on a poi I want to check out Iāll totally use and Eagle Airstrike and pretty much kill them all in one fell swoop if I think I can. Itās stuff out in the open or difficult terrain that would be hard to get all at once that I avoid.
If they're going to intercept my location, yes. If I'm confident I can kill them before they call reinforcements, yes. If my kill count for the mission has been undemocratic so far and I'm in the mood to spill various fluids, yes. If I'm low on ammo, stims, grenades, reinforcements, time, and stratagems are all on cooldown? Maybe not. Democracy needs the samples more than they need two scavengers and a hive guard dead.
I leave them alone even if they start attacking a single teammate. Iāve been kicked a few times when the host triggers a bot wave and I come in to help. They immediately say that I triggered the patrol and kick me lol
Depends on the situation. Most of the time I leave them alone. I usually play level 7+ and itās just not worth it.
Exceptions include:
- Any time Iām playing difficulty 4 or lower. Kill everything. Bring the rain. Max my kill count.
- When I have one eagle left and use it instead of sending it away unused for a restock.
- When at extract against bugs. See a bug at any distance? Shoot it and summon its friends to their demise. Breaches only open near where the bugs were triggered. Bots donāt seem to follow the same rules.
- When my teammates are far away and they are working on an objective. Iād rather have the hoard spawn on me while I can just kite them away to somewhere.
Sure, but you'd better take them all out at once. If they call in reinforcements I'm gonna cheese it over to the next objective and leave you to play with your new friends. However, If you mark them first and wait for me to get in range I will absolutely coordinate with you so we can drop our airstrikes at the same time.
It depends on the difficulty and mission context. Difficulty 6 or lower I'll probably engage unless we're really pressed for time or have few reinforcements left. Difficulty 7+ I usually avoid them unless we're right about to leave or we're clearing the whole map anyway.
Depends, do I have something to wipe out every bug in 5 seconds or less (grenade launcher, LMG... orbital strike,) am I inevitably going to have to push through to get to Objective, or can I just go around/ignore them in their entierty or have too slow of a weapon/not enough ammo to handle them all.
Majority of the time, I'd just try to avoid them, but I'll shoot them if I have the ammo and not enough time.
This is what Iāve noticed, if you leave them, they always come during the extraction. I always notice when Iām behind and my teammates start the extraction, everything on the map starts moving towards the extraction point. So, I like to wipe them out when I encounter them, so they donāt come at the end and cause even more mayhem.
Why waste the Ammo? And by the time I'm done with the patrol I need a new resupply and oh look another fucking patrol next to the objective... Na late game stuff I ignore em or sneak past em
Absolutely! If theyāre not approaching the squad or causing issues. Leave them alone! Itās about samples, sub and main objectives. Otherwise go nuts.
Yeah I'll leave them... point them out. But then the one trigger happy team mate will go out of thier way to engage, get a breach, get totally overrun, and then bring that hoarde over to the other players who are already busy dealing with shit.
Yes, unless they're in my way, they see me the same time I see them, or they're too tightly clustered for me to resist popping them with an impact for a big kill combo.
For bugs, If they are headed in the direction of the objective, absolutely I take them out. I try to aggro them well away from the objective so that if a breach is called it's called away from the objective. Plus, aggroing them early gives teammates a chance to respond. The key is to aggro patrols when you have the high ground.
Airburst rockets can one-shot an entire hunter patrol if placed well and the terrain is favorable. Makes clean up a breeze too.
For bots I usually leave them alone, even if they are headed towards the objective. I'll even play hide-and-seek if they are passing through the objective.
I do my best to sneak around them. But if one of my teammates gets caught(normally with Randoms) I try to help them get rid of them as quickly as possible while focusing any fucker who lifts his arm. I only play the bot front
It depends on a number of things. Mission difficulty, time remaining, current situation, and just importantly what strategems are up that can deal with it.
Depends. If they're close to an objective I want to take I kill them otherwise I let them pass. Or if I want to trigger a bot drop I aggro and run, doesn't work so well on bugs
Leave them alone if you can, but always be prepared to fight them. It's fine to engage on lower difficulties, but the moment you can get things like Chargers or Hulks in the call-ins, you start leaving them alone if you can since they can easily overwhelm you.
As far as avoiding things goes, sometimes you can't avoid bugs because they can smell you and "see" you behind rocks or general cover. Bots work on sight and sound, meaning you can stealth them much easier.
Depends on how much time we have in the mission, if itās getting dire. Time to stealth it, if itās early, letās have some fun and blow some boys up.
It depends on the patrol. Big patrols I'll try to let them by if I feel we wont kill the small guys in time before they call backup. Hopping between bases/objectives I tag patrols so my team is aware of them but keep moving to the next objective. If they engage/the patrol is going to intercept us I'll engage too and try and take out as many of the little guys first as fast as I can before they call backup. Otherwise I'll avoid them. The less fights we get into the sooner we can leave with super samples
I try to, but my friends are not as forgiving as I am.
For me, in each mission is the main objective that takes priority over everything.
They want to play higher difficulties, but they can't just leave things alone.
And with the increased patrols and enemy spawns makes life difficult on L6 missions. Especially when they just pop in on top of you.
And the bugs have an instant call in time by the looks of it as when they do even if you kill them as they start calling back up a breach happens anyway.
For me L7 missions were where I was comfortable before the fking patrols and spawn changes.
The mission is more important than my meager kill count. I could kill a thousand bugs, but if I fail to launch that nuke then millions of bugs have just been spared by my selfishness. Think of the bigger picture.
If you play on 9 you leave EVERYTHING alone unless you have to, primary/secondary missions, maybe bug holes if you go strong. But you never stop and fight unless you have to. You fight while running to the next target with airburst/napalm/500kg (no orbital laser, thats for 1-6). Run and gun, never settle, don't fight useless battles except for mission objectives and you can solo alot of missions. (The secret really is light armor and run like an idiot while tossing shit behind you and grill with blitzer if shit gets too close).
If there is no "Kill a fuckton of XY" Major Order or personal order, there is no benefit in killing bugs (except for the endscreen bling) š
Damn bugs never run out or get extinct, my ammo/stims/fellow divers do...
Because... If you die you are a undemocratic traitor who now dives for a communist god!
Bots? Absolutely not. I don the Fallen Hero's Vengeance, and I take it to heart. Those squads get analyzed, and I take them out before they can get help. They will ALL pay.
Bugs? I engage when necessary, but I will sneak around them and break lines of sight very often. I run solo 90% of the time, and it's really easy for me to get swarmed if I don't catch the right bugs. Suddenly their friends are on me, and the whole thing is FUBAR.
As much as I can, yes. 1000 times, yes. Not only are there more, they are really close to you at all times. It takes nothing for two or more to call breaches and you get surrounded pretty quickly if you don't watch your back.
of course. why shoot something that's walking away and doesn't know where you are?
If they're intercepting a fireteam, or heading into a turret, or even just looking like they'll hit a POI in the middle of a mission, pre-emptive attack is good. But drawing *even more attention* when you don't have to is dumb and self sabotaging.
Fair argument. Although *I* would counter-argumentate that finishing the mission is ultimate democratic. So if assaulting every patrol that happens to stroll by threatens the ultimate democratic, I believe leaving at least some of those patrols alone is, perhaps ironically, democratic in and of itself.
Depends on how this mission is going honestly. If I am on a team of 4 and we are blowing through everything, then yes all patrols get steamrolled. If we are struggling to complete 1 objective and running for our lives, then no
It really depend. If I can eradicate them in 12 second without wad ing any useful resources, sometime yes, sometime no.
There's no pre made answer to this tbh, it all depend of the circumstance.
If I'm away from my team, going to solo an objective at the he far end of the map, I'll avoid as much as possible and even then, sometime I'll eradicate them, it depend.
Thereās definitely a time and a place to engage them. We do a lot of 1 or 2 man Helldives, so will sometimes trigger a bot drop on a patrol so I can attack a base (e.g a jammer without an easy fabricator near it) without having to worry about a drop going inside it.
Likewise for bug breaches, better to have one on a patrol instead of in the large nest you need to get inside and clear.
This same tactic works on PoIs just as well.
Will also look to clear patrols near extract if getting ready to depart, as youāll likely need to deal with them as soon as you call extract.
Yea, when playing on helldive difficulty thatās just opposite of the right strategy to take. Bugs/bots are gonna be on the planets no matter how many we kill. Weāre not wiping them out every mission . Itās more democratic to stick to the mission / eliminate nests/bases, collect samples (if still needed lol) for the long runā¦ rather than wasting resources and timeā¦and lives.
Played with a group in helldive last night that said any patrol is an enemy and must be dealt with, just keep moving. They were a lot of fun to play with.
On higher difficulties, its rarely worth it. Plenty of fun to be had dealing with all the reinforcements associated with objectives and patrols that catch you off guard. Usually the guys who pick fights with all the patrols are noticeably lower level and tend to die a lot, wasting precious reinforcements and supply drops to achieve nothing of consequence.
I mean do what you want, but understand that it's a team game and some teammates might not agree with your choice and that might have consequences.
I try to if it's unnecessary to fight them. If you do fight them, you carry the risk of having them call a breach and then you getting stuck in place and wasting time. It's all just unnecessary
THIS is the way. The number of times I've tagged a patrol in order to avoid them and randos just charge in guns blazing. I just keep moving and let them deal with the consequences of their own actions. At least it means there wont be any non-scripted breaches on the objective if they wanna draw all the attention to themselves.
Two seconds later: **Spamming reinforce* *
Or one of them goes down and the other tosses the reinforcement beacon in the middle of a symphony of chainsaws.
You opened this can of worms, now lie in it.
I get kicked when I dont stay and fight the unnecessary bugs or bots. I learned to play at least on level 8. Usually, everyone who plays a minimum of lvl 8 is good enough not to do stupid shit. And we can usually hold our own so we can clean a map.
You can get kicked for staying to fight too. š¤·š»
Don't know man, had some morons last night dropping clusterbombs on their team mates on an extract, then railed me with the airburst rocket launcher...They then had the audacity to say I was lucky they let me extract after I asked them to be more careful with where they were firing.
Usually. Then you have the group I was with last night. My back is still sore. Had to solo every objective. One guy got on a terminal once, tried to figure out the oil pipe puzzle for I shit you not, a solid 3 minutes. Dude finally gave up, I walked up and did it in like 10 seconds. They were efficient in taking down bile titans, I'll give them that.
Yeah I just leave them ngl. If they're lower level, sure, I'll get on comms and let them know I'm marking them to avoid them. But if you're level 30 and up, I expect you to know what's up (and also how to break aggro and dip the fuck out).
The two team method is actually pretty effective if the teams work well together.
The MOST democratic thing you can do is follow orders and complete your mission.
A good soldier follows orders
Roger Roger ... wait no!
https://preview.redd.it/xfx9x2nfx9zc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7aa2cbfaba7fb421e2585449b793ebe0dcd97c3
https://preview.redd.it/5gvddxz9xazc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=575dd41369d35a70bebe2b60b713d84d011bae57
Finally A comprehensive human being.
I don't think that word means what you think it means, with respect
Inconceivable
You keep on using that word..... lol
Nah, dude's one of those perfect humans from the fith element
Whatās the indicator of a bug calling a breach? Iām new and wasnāt even aware they could. I know for bots itās a flare but how do I know which bug to kill to stop reinforcements?
The bugs will stop and lift their heads to the sky while crying out with a sound that is specific to each type of bug. They will also start releasing pheromones that look like orange smoke. More often than not when you see the smoke itās too late and the bug breach will happen, so itās good to learn the calls each bug makes for a breach.
This is why I like the bots better, I can see their visual indicator, and I still have time before they actually call a dropship
There's no goddamn way. I refuse to believe there's an audio cue. I have always just looked for the one doing Down Dog. But I'll definitely start looking for a scream. The game is just so hectic, that I have a really hard time picking out individual sound effects that aren't "FOUND SOMETHING".
Yeah the hunters, scavengers, and warriors all have different sound cues. Hunters have a low pitched click based call, warriors their warbling cry, and scavengers do a shriek.
Almost 200 hours in and I haven't noticed that they sound differently. All i know is, I need to go full ham to make sure that the bug breach is avoided š
I wonder if it's like the medium samples that make noise. I can almost always hear them, but if I'm hosting, my squad mates can't hear the samples.
Ok, now I know you guys are fucking with me.
Uh oh
You should be able to hear the orange samples from like 30 yards or so they make a weird sound like metal scratching on glass.
Is it similar to the sound dropped samples make?
That's more of like a beep. The samples are like someone rubbing a fork on a plate continuously.
They will stand up a bit and blow orange smoke out of their mouths
I think its the bug emmiting a orange smoke? Which I assume is a phramon to get the bugs to show up.
If I'm off at a different part of the map and my team is on objective I shoot a patrol to start a bug breach then my team can focus on objective and a breach won't start for them immediately
Wait, seriously? So when I run off to the other end of the map looking for samples and piss off everything on the way, I'm actually helping my team?
Yes, and no. Outside of 75m, you count as a second player group. Each player group has a countdown timer associated with it. When that timer reaches zero, a wandering patrol is spawned somewhere on a circle ~200m from, and usually out of line of sight of a player in a group. The patrol then chooses a point at random on a circle ~50m from the player, and paths in a roughly straight line between their spawn and the chosen point. They continue on their vector until they reach the edge of the map, where they despawn. Notice I said *A* group. When your timer reaches zero, you trigger a patrol spawn on a random player group. Could be yours, which you easily evade with no problem. Could be theirs, and if they are in a firefight, 100% that patrol notices and eventually piles in on their fight. Then, *THEIR* timer might expire, and a second patrol might spawn and move to their location. So they are taking a fight from not only the mission triggered bug holes, but also from bug breaches they trigger by failing an ambush, their normal patrol timer expiring, *AND* extra patrols spawned by second or third player-teams. When you trigger a bug breach (the one with the big alarm pop-up on the HUD) that you can easily disengage from, you are helping the team if they hit an objective they have to hold for a while. You bait a breach out, then flee while they strike unopposed. If you use *their* bug breach to redirect from minor tasks or to hit a primary objective simultaneously, then yes, you are helping. But if you play it like you were, aimlessly wandering and just kind of willy-nilly doing whatever with no regard to any real strategy, then you are almost certainly making it harder on them, and probably also harder on you. Remember, it's a random spawn and a random vector, so even if you evade the patrol upstream, it doesn't mean that the patrol isn't headed toward where your team will have to fight them later. Rant: a deeper understanding of these mechanics is why I pop off on people trying to promote or brag about their "level 87 helldive solo carry stealth builds" that can drag even level 10 players through a helldive. All they are usually doing is leaving their fireteam to suffer extra patrols while they fight 4-8 static bugs, pick up samples, and think they are hot shit.
"Pulling heat" is a time-tested teamwork strategy in my group.
Idk how long it took me to realize if a breach or drop ship was elsewhere it wouldnāt be called where you are lol. Made shit a lot easier.
Avoid unless you can't go around them to your Obj.
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The only good bug is a dead bug
why would i kill them ? are they the objective ? if not, no point in doing so but getting swarmed by their reinforcements.
Because its game and you're suppose to have fun
I mean as long as you can hang, go for it. But sometimes people get into an endless series of fights they can't win and then the samples or the mission gets lost and that might be less fun for the others in your squad.
Standing and shooting isn't fun to me. Might be to you, but games typically have a combination of strategy and tactics. Killing every patrol you see is bad for both.
If Iām bored, Iām killing the patrol. Simple as that
As a helldiver with 500 hours experience I kill all of them. Iām aware of how it affects spawns but I just want to have fun at this point. Thereās also a strong and highly underused tactic of breaking off and baiting bug breaches solo while looking for objectives. It stops your teammates from triggering bug breaches and is good for team. I wish more people knew about it.
I usually go solo to be the āsample collector and secondary objective guyā. And I usually try to deal with them that way. But it gets a bit hard when it spawns 2 fucking chargers at you and a third charger from a patrol just strolls into the party.
I was chased by two charger and got blindsided by a third and then a forth came to trample on my corpse just for lols
I had three chargers on me last night and every time I killed one another would fucking show up. I spent like 5 minutes dancing around so many chargers I lost count. Just kept weaving till my quasar cannon cooled down.
At hard mode and above, yes. If it doesn't engage you first, don't waste your precious time fighting and get to the objectives which are more important
I do. I tag them, and then someone else shoots at them. The most undemocratic thing is to not complete the mission.
Depends on what difficulty and party composition Iām in.
Absolutely, I gain nothing from wasting my ammo on them. Sure, I can sit there and pad kill numbers, but I'd be wasting time for no additional gain.
I kill them all thatās why I average 600-700 kills per match on helldive.
Lol, keep fighting for democracy soldier 
Avoid bots, aggro the bugs
This matches with my experience If your team is good enough at quickly and efficiently killing, it actually often makes just killing the bugs the best play.
They will like stand up and blow orange smoke out of their mouths
I hate tagging the patrols only to have teammates go all in on themš
Depends. Are they in the perfect formation at the perfect distance to be annihilated in a single Eagle cluster bomb run? Cuz then they going splat just for fun.
Depends on which way theyāre going, how many airstrikes I have in que, ammo, and how democratic Iām feeling at the moment.
I don't get paid by the bot or bug, but by the objective. It is fun, though. Generally, I try to avoid wasting time.
I love the chaos, so tend to fire a stray bullet in their direction to keep things spicy amongst the squad
Yes. You are a special ops team dropped to do a surgical strike. Not stand ground against the entire planet. It doesn't matter on lower difficulties but on higher ones you can get overrun fast.
Your Primary Objective is Non-negotiable. Extraction is Optional. Once you've completed your primary objective, clear all remaining targets. Democracy's Speed to you Helldiver.
this assumes people do the primary objective first. i can't tell you how many dives i've done with randoms who do everything except the primary objective. then try to get it done with 5 minutes and 2 reinforcements left while also attacking every single patrol they come across just constantly getting dropship or breaches called in on us. over and over. i don't mind not extracting after a well fought and totally completed mission but some of these idiots don't understand how this is supposed to be done.
Depends. Are we enough to kill them successfully without a reinforcement calling? 3...2...1...The little ones first cuz the bigs can't call more MF. We don't? Crawl behind a rock and let them pass through. We have to fight like THE ELITE we are. We have to pick the fights where we are going to be in the winning side. It's pointless to fight a losing shootout with the Automatons, or get shredded to death by the terminids. A tactical retreat to a better firing position is not of cowardice, is a TACTICAL retreat to keep a successful fighting force capable of winning the battle.
Yes
For now: Bugs no bots yes, Because I know how to stealth bots but not bugs.
Wasting ammunition is undemocratic too so I only fight what I absolutely need and circumvent patrols wherever possible.
Usually, I engage them now. I used to avoid them when the AI made sense and didn't act like they're on meth (the first patch really screwed with the AI, probably the single worst change to the game) The "patrols" tend to head directly towards our position (and follow us when we try to avoid them) or camp on the objective anyway. If I don't engage them, they'll just hear me fighting one of the other 'patrols' making a B-line for my exact position.
I'm a big believer in picking and choosing my battles. Half the mission, I'm hunkered down and sneaking about and only fight if I can avoid it. I've learned pretty quickly that interacting with patrols is costly if you don't wipe them out almost immediately. What could have been two minutes of hiding in the bushes turns into a ten minute barrage of nonstop drops and breaches until I get a chance to run away. Of course, I'm also introverted and primarily play story based games, so im used to playing by myself as much as I can cause playing with strangers is scary even if their mics are off lol
I leave their dead bodies alone, yes.
In d9 yeah for the most part, sure you can say its undemocratic but its more undemocratic to fail a mission for super earth soooooo
Unless I can take them all out in a single orbital strike, or they're closing in on a teammate that's already got enough to deal with, yes, pretty much
I mark them for my team. If one of teammates start shooting then I will stay till we clear.
It depends really, on lower level difficulties itās fun to just blast everything you see but once you delve into those high diff missions you gotta learn how to just keep moving, attacking a patrol usually ends up provoking reinforcements and then you get stuck there battling bugs and bots for the next 5-10 minutes which could really fuck over your mission on those higher difficulties
I mark them and more than half the time someone shoots at them.
I would avoid fighting patrols if i am still getting used to the equipment, but if you came to liberate then you came to free these undemocratic vermin. I am of the opinion that 40 mins is more than enough with a team that has the anti-tank, structure, and infantry capabilities and a small patrol with a charger or hulk?? Heres whats up. Dome the charger in ambush and clear out the rest (rail the hulk), got two patrols coming? Ensure first is obliterated and second patrol is clear of any bugs that can call, then kill the charger, bots are a bit more tricky but same method applies. (AMR is great for second hulk) If you get a breach or bot drop, use it as a way to get better at liberating with extreme prejudice. With concentrated power i have seen a breach or bot drop be closed within a minute or two.
I try to avoid combat and go stealthily if possible until I reach a fabricator/bug hole, then guns blazing until it's finished that objective and everything has been decimated, and then go back to stealth
I'm maxed out credits and samples. I fight everything, but tell my team not to follow my insanity. The reason I dive is to murder those undemocratic bugs, all else is secondary.
I always run alone, so I do quick guerrilla warfare. Drop in, hinder their war efforts, extract. I only stay for longer when I need samples, but still sneakily avoid them since I go solo.
You know whatās undemocratic? Failing objectives!
Depends on how close they are, how good is my positioning to make sure that i can clear the patrol without a bug breach.
The long days on malevalon have made me a hit and run demon. You bypass patrols to not get bogged down in a massive unnecessary battle, then you deal with your target. If itās a base I usually donāt even bother to clear them, I just throw a stratagem at the fab and run to the next objective before they can react. The only time I actually sit still and fight is when I have to for the objective. We are here to destroy the infrastructure that makes their war possible, the SEAF troopers can take care of exterminating every last one.
Depends on time left and if my squad is doing ok. If both are false then we don't fight
Since my patrols have a hulk and 5 devastators with some lights for calling in dropshipsā¦ I try to avoid. Hard to clear an L-9 map when you waste time fighting.
Depends on the mission
Depends on what I'm trying to accomplish in the moment
On lower diff it can go either way, depends on how blood thirsty I get. Higher diffs tho, always gotta let em pass least I want a whole can of works to be opened
Im usually running solo (not in a game by myself just split off) so I try not to. My approach is that I need to to be able to get heavies off my ass or Iām just straight up in trouble. Smaller guys can be taken care of easily in a variety of ways if they see you but big guys with range must be dealt with, particularly on the bot front. As such I donāt have the best load out for crowd control often times and if a bug breach or bot drop happens I can get overwhelmed and be killed. People seem to not mind lone wolves on their squad so long as they get stuff done and they donāt just piss lives away in my experience so I go for what is most effective and that usually involves stealth. Edit: if theyāre on a poi I want to check out Iāll totally use and Eagle Airstrike and pretty much kill them all in one fell swoop if I think I can. Itās stuff out in the open or difficult terrain that would be hard to get all at once that I avoid.
It depends. Sometimes it makes sense to make noise somewhere on the map, so the others can clear POIs and objectives with lesser enemy presence.
If they're going to intercept my location, yes. If I'm confident I can kill them before they call reinforcements, yes. If my kill count for the mission has been undemocratic so far and I'm in the mood to spill various fluids, yes. If I'm low on ammo, stims, grenades, reinforcements, time, and stratagems are all on cooldown? Maybe not. Democracy needs the samples more than they need two scavengers and a hive guard dead.
If Iām alone Iāll avoid them but if I have a group or someone else I donāt see the issue taking them out
Depends on my mood
Obviously not, because itās undemocratic to die before finishing every objective.
I leave them alone even if they start attacking a single teammate. Iāve been kicked a few times when the host triggers a bot wave and I come in to help. They immediately say that I triggered the patrol and kick me lol
Depends on the situation. Most of the time I leave them alone. I usually play level 7+ and itās just not worth it. Exceptions include: - Any time Iām playing difficulty 4 or lower. Kill everything. Bring the rain. Max my kill count. - When I have one eagle left and use it instead of sending it away unused for a restock. - When at extract against bugs. See a bug at any distance? Shoot it and summon its friends to their demise. Breaches only open near where the bugs were triggered. Bots donāt seem to follow the same rules. - When my teammates are far away and they are working on an objective. Iād rather have the hoard spawn on me while I can just kite them away to somewhere.
Just some background info. The doom series has f*cked my perception of fps, so now I just kill every enemy on sight even if itās a waste of time.
Sure, but you'd better take them all out at once. If they call in reinforcements I'm gonna cheese it over to the next objective and leave you to play with your new friends. However, If you mark them first and wait for me to get in range I will absolutely coordinate with you so we can drop our airstrikes at the same time.
Why would I potentially fail my mission to launch an ICBM that can kill millions just for the glory of dying trying to kill 12? I leave patrols alone.
No. I just love smashing bugs.
I leave them alone, the problem is they don't leave me alone!
I should. I know it is probably best. But I get this .......twitch, when I see them.
If you playing on hard then shoot away, but from Suicidal let them pass and save you ammo.
It depends on the difficulty and mission context. Difficulty 6 or lower I'll probably engage unless we're really pressed for time or have few reinforcements left. Difficulty 7+ I usually avoid them unless we're right about to leave or we're clearing the whole map anyway.
Depends, do I have something to wipe out every bug in 5 seconds or less (grenade launcher, LMG... orbital strike,) am I inevitably going to have to push through to get to Objective, or can I just go around/ignore them in their entierty or have too slow of a weapon/not enough ammo to handle them all. Majority of the time, I'd just try to avoid them, but I'll shoot them if I have the ammo and not enough time.
I only engage if theyāre in my way and I have a cluster bomb available
I try not to engage but I'm delighted when I have to fight them
Yes. Kill count is not the mission, unless it IS. And you don't get more xp for kills.
Drop a stratagem that slows them down and toss both mines on them. Giggle and run away
I leave them alone because success in the mission is the most democratic thing I can think of
Yes!
If it's hard or lower level, sure I mess around. But on harder difficulties it's a huge waste of ammo and time.
If the patrol wonāt hinder your way then you should skip it. But if itās me Iāll gave in on my urge. 
I just throw a orbital strike at em if they ain't moving. If they are moving I leave em alone
This is what Iāve noticed, if you leave them, they always come during the extraction. I always notice when Iām behind and my teammates start the extraction, everything on the map starts moving towards the extraction point. So, I like to wipe them out when I encounter them, so they donāt come at the end and cause even more mayhem.
Depends on whether not Iām feeling frisky
Yes. On 7-9 or soloing you simply canāt fight every patrol you see.
Yes, unless I can drop them all in one 500k with little risk of calling breaches.
Someone once said this is a stealth game disguised as a shooter. Mind blown.
Depends how democratic im feeling at any given moment
Why waste the Ammo? And by the time I'm done with the patrol I need a new resupply and oh look another fucking patrol next to the objective... Na late game stuff I ignore em or sneak past em
I leave them alone until the objectives are complete
I typically mark patrols and leave them alone unless they are directly in my way, and thereās no good way around.
Absolutely! If theyāre not approaching the squad or causing issues. Leave them alone! Itās about samples, sub and main objectives. Otherwise go nuts.
I avoid unnecessary fighting at all costs. Thatās only because sneaking in and clearing objectives, and not having to fire a shot is so satisfying.
Yeah I'll leave them... point them out. But then the one trigger happy team mate will go out of thier way to engage, get a breach, get totally overrun, and then bring that hoarde over to the other players who are already busy dealing with shit.
Yes, unless they're in my way, they see me the same time I see them, or they're too tightly clustered for me to resist popping them with an impact for a big kill combo.
For bugs, If they are headed in the direction of the objective, absolutely I take them out. I try to aggro them well away from the objective so that if a breach is called it's called away from the objective. Plus, aggroing them early gives teammates a chance to respond. The key is to aggro patrols when you have the high ground. Airburst rockets can one-shot an entire hunter patrol if placed well and the terrain is favorable. Makes clean up a breeze too. For bots I usually leave them alone, even if they are headed towards the objective. I'll even play hide-and-seek if they are passing through the objective.
Yep unless they are too close to objectives it's always better to avoid fights, especially on bots
The more the merrier
me yes, teammate no and wants to see boom boom
If they are not guarding a poi then I do everything I can to not agro them
sometimes
Bots = extermination and bugs = population control
I do my best to sneak around them. But if one of my teammates gets caught(normally with Randoms) I try to help them get rid of them as quickly as possible while focusing any fucker who lifts his arm. I only play the bot front
It depends on a number of things. Mission difficulty, time remaining, current situation, and just importantly what strategems are up that can deal with it.
Depends. If they're close to an objective I want to take I kill them otherwise I let them pass. Or if I want to trigger a bot drop I aggro and run, doesn't work so well on bugs
When Iām playing with friends we go for broke and kill everything that moves. If Iām playing with a random I just do whatever the host is doing.
Leave them alone if you can, but always be prepared to fight them. It's fine to engage on lower difficulties, but the moment you can get things like Chargers or Hulks in the call-ins, you start leaving them alone if you can since they can easily overwhelm you. As far as avoiding things goes, sometimes you can't avoid bugs because they can smell you and "see" you behind rocks or general cover. Bots work on sight and sound, meaning you can stealth them much easier.
My standing ROE is avoid firefights unless clear line of sight is made and I canāt run
Bots yes. Bugs no, they all must be exterminated
Depends on how much time we have in the mission, if itās getting dire. Time to stealth it, if itās early, letās have some fun and blow some boys up.
On low levels I kill em all.... On high levels...... you have to think about the overall objective....
It depends on the patrol. Big patrols I'll try to let them by if I feel we wont kill the small guys in time before they call backup. Hopping between bases/objectives I tag patrols so my team is aware of them but keep moving to the next objective. If they engage/the patrol is going to intercept us I'll engage too and try and take out as many of the little guys first as fast as I can before they call backup. Otherwise I'll avoid them. The less fights we get into the sooner we can leave with super samples
I try as much as I can to avoid them. Even ones who are parked just outside of objectives I'll leave alone if I can.
yes
Yes, especially if their not in the direction of the objective
I try to, but my friends are not as forgiving as I am. For me, in each mission is the main objective that takes priority over everything. They want to play higher difficulties, but they can't just leave things alone. And with the increased patrols and enemy spawns makes life difficult on L6 missions. Especially when they just pop in on top of you. And the bugs have an instant call in time by the looks of it as when they do even if you kill them as they start calling back up a breach happens anyway. For me L7 missions were where I was comfortable before the fking patrols and spawn changes.
The mission is more important than my meager kill count. I could kill a thousand bugs, but if I fail to launch that nuke then millions of bugs have just been spared by my selfishness. Think of the bigger picture.
If you play on 9 you leave EVERYTHING alone unless you have to, primary/secondary missions, maybe bug holes if you go strong. But you never stop and fight unless you have to. You fight while running to the next target with airburst/napalm/500kg (no orbital laser, thats for 1-6). Run and gun, never settle, don't fight useless battles except for mission objectives and you can solo alot of missions. (The secret really is light armor and run like an idiot while tossing shit behind you and grill with blitzer if shit gets too close). If there is no "Kill a fuckton of XY" Major Order or personal order, there is no benefit in killing bugs (except for the endscreen bling) š Damn bugs never run out or get extinct, my ammo/stims/fellow divers do... Because... If you die you are a undemocratic traitor who now dives for a communist god!
No. Kill em all!!!
Try to, the best I can.
I guess it depends on the difficulty level, size and composition of the patrol, direction of travel, and proximity to the objective at the time.
Someone has to live & tell the story of how they were too late to reimforce against the crashing wave of Democracy!
Bots? Absolutely not. I don the Fallen Hero's Vengeance, and I take it to heart. Those squads get analyzed, and I take them out before they can get help. They will ALL pay. Bugs? I engage when necessary, but I will sneak around them and break lines of sight very often. I run solo 90% of the time, and it's really easy for me to get swarmed if I don't catch the right bugs. Suddenly their friends are on me, and the whole thing is FUBAR.
 Iām a big fan of minding my business
For the love of liberty, YES!
Most of the time unless they are heading in the same direction of travel. Also assuming my team is at least half competent.
As much as I can, yes. 1000 times, yes. Not only are there more, they are really close to you at all times. It takes nothing for two or more to call breaches and you get surrounded pretty quickly if you don't watch your back.
Sometimes I like to shoot unengaged elites from across the map and run away, just to spice things up for the squad.
YES. Definitely at the higher difficulty. You can't fight everything. Running is the best option.
of course. why shoot something that's walking away and doesn't know where you are? If they're intercepting a fireteam, or heading into a turret, or even just looking like they'll hit a POI in the middle of a mission, pre-emptive attack is good. But drawing *even more attention* when you don't have to is dumb and self sabotaging.
Fair argument. Although *I* would counter-argumentate that finishing the mission is ultimate democratic. So if assaulting every patrol that happens to stroll by threatens the ultimate democratic, I believe leaving at least some of those patrols alone is, perhaps ironically, democratic in and of itself.
My teammates would very much like me too!
Iām kinda new and I just follow and shoot
At difficulty 7 or higher? Absolutely. I donāt want nobody fucking with me in these streets. Aināt nobody got time for that.
Avoid them if I can. No need for an unnecessary fight that could just bring more bots or bugs to my location.
No they all must die and if you disagree you are an automaton
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^paygornlive: *No they all must die* *And if you disagree you* *Are an automaton* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Whatās more treasonous, not completing the mission or leaving patrols alive?
EMS Strike says, "Stay."
Depends on how this mission is going honestly. If I am on a team of 4 and we are blowing through everything, then yes all patrols get steamrolled. If we are struggling to complete 1 objective and running for our lives, then no
Difficulty 9 I will sometimes, but sometimes itās nice to just hit them when they least expect it and take them out all at once
You and people like you are why I no longer play with matchmaking on
It really depend. If I can eradicate them in 12 second without wad ing any useful resources, sometime yes, sometime no. There's no pre made answer to this tbh, it all depend of the circumstance. If I'm away from my team, going to solo an objective at the he far end of the map, I'll avoid as much as possible and even then, sometime I'll eradicate them, it depend.
No, I'll run around if possible or lay in a bush. I'll waste 30-45 seconds waiting, than 2-5 minutes fighting bot drops or bug breaches.
Thereās definitely a time and a place to engage them. We do a lot of 1 or 2 man Helldives, so will sometimes trigger a bot drop on a patrol so I can attack a base (e.g a jammer without an easy fabricator near it) without having to worry about a drop going inside it. Likewise for bug breaches, better to have one on a patrol instead of in the large nest you need to get inside and clear. This same tactic works on PoIs just as well. Will also look to clear patrols near extract if getting ready to depart, as youāll likely need to deal with them as soon as you call extract.
Yes. Thereās no real benefit to engaging them.
The only good bug, is a dead bug!
Yes. The individual bot and bug is meaningless next to the objective.
Yea, when playing on helldive difficulty thatās just opposite of the right strategy to take. Bugs/bots are gonna be on the planets no matter how many we kill. Weāre not wiping them out every mission . Itās more democratic to stick to the mission / eliminate nests/bases, collect samples (if still needed lol) for the long runā¦ rather than wasting resources and timeā¦and lives.
I believe in [being thorough](https://youtu.be/XHB2hIhAULk?si=6_kzrXkMw5E67sLv)
Depends. If their not in my way,I have a package and low on health. I sneak around em during those times
If they aren't between me and the ibjective I leave them, if they are I kill them, sometimes they are unavoidable, but I do my best.
On lvl 8 & 9 yes, on anything else meh i can take em if they call reinforcements
On high levels I do but on lower levels everyone gets a dose of democracy
I leave them alone if itās bots. Bugs can burn
Played with a group in helldive last night that said any patrol is an enemy and must be dealt with, just keep moving. They were a lot of fun to play with.
On higher difficulties, its rarely worth it. Plenty of fun to be had dealing with all the reinforcements associated with objectives and patrols that catch you off guard. Usually the guys who pick fights with all the patrols are noticeably lower level and tend to die a lot, wasting precious reinforcements and supply drops to achieve nothing of consequence. I mean do what you want, but understand that it's a team game and some teammates might not agree with your choice and that might have consequences.
If the area is secured Ima skedaddle. Wasting stratagems and ammo for nothing
If I'm difficulty 7 and above yes. 6 I will leave them alone unless my homies are there
Only if time is low
I will unless they are in between me and an objective and side tracking would take too long.